I don't think The First Chapter is their best work. I enjoy it, but they've done better. If you're looking for a good hard-hitting prog metal album, go with Isolate. If you're looking for something more laid back with less super technical progressive noodling and even a more pop-ish influence, go for Nine, their new album.

Sounds like I'd be more of a fan of Isolate, but I'm going to check 'em both out for good measure. Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

I don't know if this has been asked or not but I am frankly not going to go through all the pages searching for an answer. So, I'm looking for more bands like Arcturus with phenomenal songwriting. The obvious ones that I already know are Sigh, Ved Buens End, Virus, Solefald, Age of Silence, Ihsahn, Transcending Bizarre, Peccatum, Vulture Industries. Anything outside of these mentioned would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

_________________If men were born free, they would, so long as they remained free, form no conception of good and evil.

I don't know if this has been asked or not but I am frankly not going to go through all the pages searching for an answer. So, I'm looking for more bands like Arcturus with phenomenal songwriting. The obvious ones that I already know are Sigh, Ved Buens End, Virus, Solefald, Age of Silence, Ihsahn, Transcending Bizarre, Peccatum, Vulture Industries. Anything outside of these mentioned would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

No answer?

_________________If men were born free, they would, so long as they remained free, form no conception of good and evil.

Not an easy answer since you mention pretty much all the bands that are often associated in style with Arcturus. One that isn't present is Unexpect but they're way too bouncy for your request I think.

PS: You might enjoy Angst Skvadron, although it is a bit gimmicky!

Well I definitely appreciate your answer. Yeah I know Uexpect. I did enjoy their last offering with the other albums being a bit unfocused and "schizoid" for the sake of being so and nothing more. I will check out the other band you've mentioned. Cheers, man!

_________________If men were born free, they would, so long as they remained free, form no conception of good and evil.

Thanks, I got a little impatient waiting though and kinda jumped the gun. So far I've listened to Accelerated Evolution, Physicist (my favorite as it stands), and Terria. I'll check out Ziltoid when I get a chance.Really good stuff. A little overwhelming at times, but never boring.

I don't know if this has been asked or not but I am frankly not going to go through all the pages searching for an answer. So, I'm looking for more bands like Arcturus with phenomenal songwriting. The obvious ones that I already know are Sigh, Ved Buens End, Virus, Solefald, Age of Silence, Ihsahn, Transcending Bizarre, Peccatum, Vulture Industries. Anything outside of these mentioned would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

No answer?

I used to listen a lot to that kind of bizarre schyzophrenic music. Try these: Kadenzza, Akphaezya, The Wicked, Ram-zet, A Forest of Stars, Unexpect, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum... Well, that's all I can think of right now (in addition to the ones you're mentioning)

edit: I could add Diabolical Masquerade and also insist that you listen to A Forest of Stars, which are brilliant.

Hey guys... can you please recommend me of a progressive death metal bands, which their music is similar to Dream Theater's?I don't want really similar to DT, but, im looking for prog death metal with long solos and instrumental parts.Thanks!

Thoughts about this? I personally have no idea what to expect. It probably won't be even mellower than Fates Warning X I guess. I can imagine something similiar to early/mid 90's Fates Warning could be written again instrumentally - Jim Matheos guitarwork on Sympathetic Resonance actually sounded really energetic to my ears and ocassionally reminded me of that era.

Thoughts about this? I personally have no idea what to expect. It probably won't be even mellower than Fates Warning X I guess. I can imagine something similiar to early/mid 90's Fates Warning could be written again instrumentally - Jim Matheos guitarwork on Sympathetic Resonance actually sounded really energetic to my ears and ocassionally reminded me of that era.

If it's as good as Arch/Matheos (virtually the same lineup, and Alder is talented in his own right) then we are in for a real treat.

I find it daunting to try and sift through all the pages to find what I am sure has been answered before, so here goes.....

I like traditional heavy metal, thrash, progressive and a tiny little bit of core but am sort of limited in the bands that I like and want to expand the amount of bands. I know these bands wont be everyone's taste but I'm hoping for some really good suggestions.The bands that I like are : Metallica ( I like all their stuff but predominately the first 5 albums)Dream theater, avenged sevenfold (waking the fallen onwards), trivium ( their latest was a bit hit and miss), protest the hero, bullet for my valentine ( can only just stand the vocals ) and a couple more.

As much as my favourite part of the music is the guitar the thing that stops me liking other bands that I know that are similar to the ones I've listed is the vocals. I like the vocalist to sing and not growl, scream or be cheesy aggressive. I like that grit but without sounding like it is so forced and unnatural, as much as I like the music side of bands like megadeath, evile and testament the vocals just prevent me from liking it.

Basically if you know of any bands that are similar to especially Metallica( modern vocals) avenged sevenfold ( waking onwards vocals) and trivium ( clean vocals) with the heavy riffs and solos I would love to hear them.Or even if there are some good instrumental bands I would love to hear them.

Check out both Realm albums. Guitar-oriented clean-sung progressive/thrash, and surprisingly I think some parallels can be drawn between them and the latest Protest the Hero album. Does the lack of metalcore screaming and breakdowns in Scurrilous make it your favorite of their albums?

Check out both Realm albums. Guitar-oriented clean-sung progressive/thrash, and surprisingly I think some parallels can be drawn between them and the latest Protest the Hero album. Does the lack of metalcore screaming and breakdowns in Scurrilous make it your favorite of their albums?

I do like scurrilous a bit more than fortress but i still like kezia the most, not bad suggestion on realm, not exactly what im going for but not horrible.

I'd love to blast a bit of Voivod and make a better-looking gun turret to glue on the tortoise's shell to make it look like Killing Technology, but the wife won't let me. I think I'll get an Emperor penguin instead.

I've just discovered Circus Maximus after seeing them mentioned on this thread and bloody love them, my other favourite is Dream Theater any other bands that have similar sound to their more recent releases, eg: Nigthmare to remember and Count of Tuscany by Dream Theater and Burn after reading and last goodbye by Circus Maximus, with also similar vocals?

I've just discovered Circus Maximus after seeing them mentioned on this thread and bloody love them, my other favourite is Dream Theater any other bands that have similar sound to their more recent releases, eg: Nigthmare to remember and Count of Tuscany by Dream Theater and Burn after reading and last goodbye by Circus Maximus, with also similar vocals?

Have you listened to Vanden Plas at all? Their last two albums, The Seraphic Clockwork and Christ 0, are top notch progressive metal albums. I would also recommend Creation's End's debut as well.

I've discovered a bunch of really good progressive metal bands the past few months thanks to Spotify. Would people that are into this be interested? If so, I'll put it together and post it here. Also, mods, this wouldn't break the rules of this thread, right? I'll try to include descriptions of the bands so it's not just a long list.

Just came across this band Brothers Grimm, and I'm pretty blown away at the moment. For 1990 these guys were basically at the forefront of tech/prog metal, and apparently the bassist of Spiral Architect actually knew them from back in the early 90's due to them attending the same music college. Surely some Watchtower influence, but damn, if they weren't ahead of their time they certainly weren't behind anyone. Anyone else here familiar with them? I can't believe that I've never heard of them before.

You really need to hear the whole first album. If you like early '70s heavy/prog with unbelievable drumming, an "astral" sort of feeling, and constant tempo/signature changes, then this is for you. Rod Evans voice fits perfectly too. Some really interesting guitar playing here. It's easily in my top 10 and I'm finally getting around to the other two albums today.